


What Do You See When You Look At Me

by MistressAkira



Series: FE Rare Pair Week 2k17 [5]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Bittersweet, F/M, FE Rarepair Week 2k17, Friends With Benefits, Implied Sexual Content, Morning After, Post-Plegian War, Rare Pairings, Undefined Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-29 06:05:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11434713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MistressAkira/pseuds/MistressAkira
Summary: The Plegian-Ylisse war is over, and they are not soldiers anymore.What they still are, no one knows.Written for FE Rarepair Week 2k17; Day 6: Watching.





	What Do You See When You Look At Me

**Author's Note:**

> Written for FE Rare Pair Week 2017, Day 6: Watching.
> 
> Yes I’m late and writing this out of order again *sobs* It’ll get done by Rare Pair week next year promise.
> 
> I really adore Maribelle, and Gaius is just a really interesting character to get inside the head of, plus their supports lent background to Gaius, which I thought was much nicer than just focusing on his candy addiction. BTW, this takes place during the two-year time skip after the Plegian/Ylisse war, but before the S support.
> 
> Fun act, ‘Garderobe’ is what medieval bathrooms were called.
> 
> I own a brush w/o a handle that I just keep using because I’m too lazy to buy a new one. I do not own Fire Emblem.

Gaius awoke in a familiar place with a familiar feeling spreading across his body, namely Maribelle’s plush bed and fingernail scraped-raw shoulder blades.

Sun was streaming merrily in through the large windows set into the cream-colored walls beside the bed, lacy pink curtains done up with delicate bows of golden ribbon that resembled every other item, décor or living element likewise, in the room. The gauzy canopy curtains that hid Maribelle’s unreasonably large bed- especially considering how small the woman herself was- from the rest of her suite were also pulled back and tied up primly, sun unforgiving in its bright, awakening beams. Gaius blinked his bleary green eyes and mused with neither resentment nor surprise that it was obvious he was being shooed rather passive aggressively this morning.

Instead of relenting, the thief rolled over in his lover’s pink sheets and curled back into sleep. His eyes, better suited for the midnight hours after fourteen years of being an outlaw, thanked him immensely the moment his lids shielded them from the unforgiving morning brightness. However, the scratches that raked up and down his back (his entirely body, really) were bared to the air and sun of the room, and tingled where the red skin met the warmth.

Truly, for as sharp of a woman Maribelle was outside the sack, she was downright lethal between the sheets.

The bed was still an absolute disaster from the night before, in no small part from their activities but also due to Maribelle’s natural tendency to toss in her sleep. The blankets were strewn every which way, but Gaius just pulled the nearest one closer and was dozing off again when the gilded white doors off to the left of the bed opened up, and the short form of the room’s owner and the daughter of the Duke of Themis waltzed into the room.

The sounds of her bustling around the room became the soft drone to which Gaius woke up to: the click of her cosmetics on her vanity, the click of garters and socks and boots being put together, the click of Maribelle’s teeth as she mused, hummed, agitated into her own morning. She made no move towards the bed- Gaius would have heard it- but also made no attempt to roust its occupant, and this continued on long enough that Gaius eventually flicked open an eye of his own accord to see what the hold up was.

A sharp breath of air quietly- thank the gods- left his lugs when he saw Maribelle in the golden morning light. It was not the normal presentation of Maribelle’s beauty that made the thief double-take, not even the fact she bad bathed today, and he could smell the heavy scent of her perfume all the way from across the room, or her blond that was freshly curled and her face made up with eyeshadow and pale pink lip rouge (she was the kind of person who curled her hair and did her make-up even when her days had consisted of frying folks with magic, sewing sutures closed, and wading through sand) but the fact she was in the state of dressing herself. Dressing herself in the normally maddening (and quite impossible to get  _off_ some nights, even with sticky fingers) attire of nobles, starting with her corset.

The thin white slip beneath the corset clung to Maribelle’s curves, the pink ribbons of the girdle already laced to terrifying proportions. Her bust pushed up, her waist non-existent, fanciful curls already full and bouncy, Gaius’ eyes dragged over her figure in his sleep-addled amusement, and sure, Maribelle was delectable when she was all trussed up like a fancy box of chocolates, but beneath the gold wrapping, she had all the same scars he and every other member of the Shepherds did. And Gaius knew he preferred those over the pomp and circumstance she’d donned since coming home.

Her combat trained reflexes didn’t fail to sense the lingering eyes on her, and she turned to glace towards the bed, eyes locking with his instantly. Her hands never moved from tying her bows into place. “Good morning.” Lips curled into a brisk smile.

It was moments like this that made Gaius feel like a cat Maribelle had found and had settled in her bed out of selfish rebellion more than any other emotional connection, like he was the kitten she put milk out for when she was home and conveniently forgot existed until she came back. Maribelle didn’t have loose morals, and she was hell in a hand basket to those who were expecting a demure maid instead of a headstrong she-devil, but sometimes Gaius didn’t get her. Including him in her life- sharing her bed, and past the war even- when she should still be wanting his jewels after everything that happened with her father, was baffling as much as it was amusing. Her rebellious streak was strong and Maribelle didn’t just do anything for anyone, but Gaius was very well aware of his position in regard to hers, and the fact she still deigned to waste time on this just made him feel like he was in the way more than anything.

“G’morning, Twinkles.” Gaius raised himself up on his elbows, letting the blankets fall away from his chest and pool around his hips, holding her gaze evenly. He had not bathed since last night, and he knew full well how he smelled, sweat and musk and sex, and what he wanted was for her to take note of this too.

Maribelle finished fussing with her hair and turned to face Gaius fully in her bed, arms crossed at the elbows and hugging herself. All her assets were just as nonchalantly presented as before, plumb chest pink in the softest places, lean muscles still evident in her thighs and calves. It was easy to forget Maribelle had been a soldier only a short few months ago, especially when she looked like this. There were a few scars visible along her shoulder, and the marks Gaius had put along her neck last night were dark and pink in the morning light.

She was a layered cake, pink and white and marzipan, covered in silk flowers and filled with only a  _mostly_ lethal poison. Gaius wanted to take another bite out of her.

Maribelle seemed to have realized he was watching her, leaning a little to the side and cocking her head. “In case you weren’t aware, it’s rude to stare.

“How in the world to you even get into that thing on your own?” Gaius asked in his sleep graveled voice. “Thing’s wrapped up tighter than a kid’s hand around candy.”

“I called a maid in to do it, of course.” Upon the way Gaius is sure his face blanched at the insinuation, Maribelle rolled her eyes and clarified. “I had her help me put it on in the garderobe, then sent her away when I came to get dressed. No one saw you.”

 He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. Maribelle uncrossed her arms, flashing him a coy grin. “Instruments of torture aside,”

She sauntered her way towards the bed, leaning down to press a kiss to Gaius’ chin, the highest she could reach from her current position. His chin felt sticky from her lip rouge as she pulled away, but he wanted more, and before she would pull too far away that would require him to get up to chase her, his arms locked around that tiny waist.

Maribelle let out a tiny breath when her movements were stilled but stayed leaned over the bed as Gaius pulled her even closer. He was sniffing her like he often did, the natural candy and cream smell of her skin heavenly beneath the acidic punch of her perfume, punctuating the lavishing with little bites and kisses in between.

“You scoundrel…” she hummed back in mock scolding.

His hands wandered, feeling the tautness of her thighs and the crisscrossing scars left by her riding gear when she rode as a Valkyrie. “Do we have time for…” Gaius trailed off in the heat of biting the soft underside of her chin.

Maribelle arms came up to Gaius’s neck and locked themselves in place with finality. “How lucky of you, I happen to have half an hour until breakfast.”

She settled herself in his lap, and the ribbons of her attire came apart with practiced ease, and once the box was open, Gaius allowed himself to sink into the sweet feast. He had to enjoy it while it lasted, the whole of their relationship sure to melt like chocolate between his fingers the longer it lasted away from the battlefield. Maribelle was a noble and meant for more than rolling in the hay with a convicted criminal, and Gaius knew holding onto her was only going to get in the way when he would eventually return to his livelihood.

But damned if he wasn’t going to savor every sweet, and sharp, and lethal moment of this before then.


End file.
